Category > Submissions

Wow, do we have some great stuff for you today! Author, editor, and columnist Michael Knost shares a gem from his new book, The Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy, a collection of essays and interviews with some of the biggest names in the field, now available in bookstores and at Amazon. In the […]

On August 8 and 9, I had the pleasure of attending a workshop presented by Adrienne Kerr, Commissioning Editor, Commercial Fiction, Penguin (Canada). In advance of the workshop, we each submitted a query letter, a five page synopsis, and a five page excerpt from our novel; in other words, just the sort of package one […]

Stress abounds in the game of roulette that is the fiction submissions process. Whether you are submitting to magazines, anthologies, agents, or publishing houses, it’s a hard slog through the trenches of disappointment, frustration, and sometimes even despair. In fact, sometimes the journey bears an uncanny resemblance to the five steps of grieving: 1. Denial: […]

Before I launch into this post, I want to tell you all: I have an agent. Of course when I received the offer I was the consummate professional. You know me. Cool-headed, even-tempered, never one to get carried away. I thanked him for the offer and politely accepted and was the very picture of calm. […]

Today we bring you Part 2 of Vylar Kaftan’s ultra-nerdy guest post on her submissions data. This post originally appeared on her blog. Thanks again to Vylar for letting us repost it here! I’m often asked about when to revise rejected stories, and whether I change stories before sending them to another market. Previously I […]

It might not be intuitive, but a successful author is–most likely–a well-organized author. It’s all nice and romantic to imagine an office piled ceiling-high with stacks of paper, unpaid bills, absinthe bottles, etc, but let’s leave it at romance. If you don’t have to hunt for information every 10 minutes, if you can answer a […]

Once upon a time, I wrote a novel. I signed a contract with a very small press. My book passed through an editing process with a contracted editor. My book got cover art. I had the loosely scheduled release date of “Fall 2011.” I scraped up my first blurb. And then my publisher closed down. […]